Iran hands UN evidence on militants’ chemical weapons

Press TV-(Wed Sep 11, 2013) A senior Iranian official says Tehran has provided the United Nations with conclusive evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the militants in Syria.

“Iran is in possession of strong evidence regarding the militant chemical attack in Syria and has handed on the evidence to the United Nations,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Tuesday. “Last December, for example, we received news that two Sarin gas containers were being transferred to Syria. The containers were sent from an Arab country to a neighboring country, where it triggered security and political reactions,” he added. Amir-Abdollahian dismissed the accusation that Damascus has used chemical arms, saying the Syrian government does not need to use such weapons. “At a time when Syria is successfully fighting terrorists, it wouldn’t be logical to use chemical weapons,” said the Iranian official. Nevertheless, he said, a number of opposition groups inside and outside Syria accused Damascus of having used chemical weapons “because [US President Barack] Obama had said the US’s redline was using chemical weapons in Syria.” “As a victim of chemical arms,” Amir-Abdollahian added, “we diligently pursued the matter and ascertained that the Syrian government had not used this kind of weapon.” The recent war rhetoric against Syria first gained momentum on August 21, when the militants operating inside the Middle Eastern country and its foreign-backed opposition claimed that over a thousand people had been killed in a government chemical attack on suburban Damascus. The Syrian government categorically rejected the accusation.